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Evan Fong (born 31 May 1992), known online as VanossGaming (or simply Vanoss), is a Canadian internet personality, video game commentator, music producer, and DJ. He posts montage-style videos on YouTube of him and other creators playing various video games, such as ''
Grand Theft Auto V ''Grand Theft Auto V'' is a 2013 action-adventure game developed by Rockstar North and published by Rockstar Games. It is the seventh main entry in the Grand Theft Auto, ''Grand Theft Auto'' series, following 2008's ''Grand Theft Auto IV'', and ...
'' and ''
Garry's Mod ''Garry's Mod'' is a 2006 sandbox game developed by Facepunch Studios and published by Valve. The base game mode of ''Garry's Mod'' has no set objectives and provides the player with a world in which to freely manipulate objects. Other game ...
''. Aside from this, he produces music and performs as a DJ under the name Rynx, and served as a creative director for the video game ''
Dead Realm ''Dead Realm'' was a horror-style game for the PC. The main gameplay consists of one player taking control of a ghost while the remaining players are humans who must avoid being haunted by the ghost. On August 27, 2020, 3BLACKDOT ended support ...
'', and as a voice actor for the
YouTube Premium YouTube Premium (formerly Music Key and YouTube Red) is a subscription service offered by the video platform YouTube. The service provides ad-free access to content across the service, as well as access to premium YouTube Originals programming ...
series ''
Paranormal Action Squad ''Paranormal Action Squad'' is an adult comedy animated streaming television series from YouTube Premium starring the YouTubers SeaNanners, Mr. Sark, and VanossGaming, while YouTubers TheSyndicateProject and H2O Delirious appear in guest starri ...
'' and the animated series ''Alpha Betas''.


Biography

Fong was born on 31 May 1992 and raised in
Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...
,
Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...
. Fong is of Asian descent, his mother being
Korean Korean may refer to: People and culture * Koreans, ethnic group originating in the Korean Peninsula * Korean cuisine * Korean culture * Korean language **Korean alphabet, known as Hangul or Chosŏn'gŭl **Korean dialects and the Jeju language ** ...
, and father
Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of ...
. Fong graduated from Richmond Hill High School and studied economics in college, but he later dropped out in his second year to focus on his YouTube channel as a full-time commitment. Fong claimed that his parents were initially concerned that he was neglecting his studies in favor of producing content for his YouTube channel, admitting that "Even though there's a lot of potential for somebody starting a YouTube channel it's obviously not a guaranteed path.". During his early years on YouTube, he met several other creators who would eventually become frequently featured in his videos. His channel achieved popularity soon after, and by 2014 it had surpassed 10 million subscribers. In the same year, he appeared at PAX East and signed a contract with Jetpak. His logo, an owl in the shape of the letter "V", modeled after his character in ''
Grand Theft Auto V ''Grand Theft Auto V'' is a 2013 action-adventure game developed by Rockstar North and published by Rockstar Games. It is the seventh main entry in the Grand Theft Auto, ''Grand Theft Auto'' series, following 2008's ''Grand Theft Auto IV'', and ...
'', is one of his most recognizable symbols. Fong claimed that he was not introduced to video games at a young age, but that he played games "here and there" which included children's adventure and puzzle titles such as '' Freddi Fish'' and ''
Pajama Sam The ''Pajama Sam'' series is a collection of point and click children's adventure and puzzle games originally created by Humongous Entertainment. After the release of the first two adventure games, the series was proving a success when the product ...
''. Outside of his YouTube career, Fong continues to play ice hockey recreationally, plays airsoft or other tournaments, and also plays the
guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...
as another hobby. On 30 April 2015, Fong announced on
Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
that he had signed with Jetpak, a
multi-channel network A multi-channel network (MCN) is an organization that works with video platforms to offer assistance to a channel owner in areas such as "product, programming, funding, cross-promotion, partner management, digital rights management, monetizati ...
founded by
Adam Montoya Adam Montoya (born June 12, 1984), better known as SeaNanners, is an American YouTuber. Career Early life and work After graduating from San Diego State University, Montoya did freelance work such as filming weddings. During this time, Adam, ...
and
Tom Cassell Thomas George Cassell (born 23 June 1993), known online as Syndicate, is an English YouTuber and Twitch streamer. Regarded as one of the earlier known gaming personalities, his videography consists of Let's Play videos on ''Call of Duty'' and ...
. On 26 November 2015, Fong announced that he was releasing a new logo for the VanossGaming brand. He released the logo later that day along with limited edition merchandise released the day after. The logo was a white minimalistic design of an owl on a black background. There is also a diagonal cut through the design, creating a black letter "V". The owl design represented the owl mask on Fong's character model in ''
Grand Theft Auto Online ''Grand Theft Auto Online'' is an online multiplayer action-adventure game developed by Rockstar North and published by Rockstar Games. It was released on 1 October 2013 for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, 18 November 2014 for PlayStation 4 and Xbo ...
''. Fong's content has earned him two award nominations, including a Shorty Award for Tech and Innovation, under the category of Gaming. He has been recognized as a central figure in the subculture of video game commentary, with publications attributing his massive popularity to his sense of authenticity. As of April 2020, Fong's channel has over 12 billion views and 25.0 million subscribers, making it the 95th most subscribed channel on YouTube.


Name

Fong created the VanossGaming channel on YouTube on 15 September 2011. The name "Vanoss" comes from
VANOS VANOS is a variable valve timing system used by BMW on various automotive petrol engines since 1992. The name is an abbreviation of the German words for ''variable camshaft timing'' (german: variable Nockenwellensteuerung). The initial version ...
, a
variable valve timing In internal combustion engines, variable valve timing (VVT) is the process of altering the timing of a valve lift event, and is often used to improve performance, fuel economy or emissions. It is increasingly being used in combination with varia ...
system produced by German automobile company BMW; Fong's father used the alias "vanoss62" (which referred to the S62 engine used in the E39 generation
BMW M5 The BMW M5 is a high performance variant of the BMW 5 Series marketed under the BMW M sub-brand. It is considered an iconic vehicle in the sports sedan category. The majority of M5s have been produced in the sedan (saloon) body style, but in so ...
) on the
PlayStation 3 The PlayStation 3 (PS3) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment, Sony Computer Entertainment. The successor to the PlayStation 2, it is part of the PlayStation brand of consoles. It was first released on Novemb ...
, which his son later adopted for his own.


YouTube channel

In January 2015, Fong began to receive mainstream media attention as he approached 11 million subscribers and a ranking within the top 25 most subscribed channels on YouTube, with commentators identifying him as a central figure in the growing video game commentary subculture. Speaking at the time, he suggested that his success could be credited to the fact that "Viewers really like the authentic type of content from regular people just playing games because they can relate to that". In March 2015, he appeared on the "YouTube Gaming Evolution" panel at
PAX East PAX (originally known as Penny Arcade Expo) is a series of gaming culture festivals involving tabletop, arcade, and video gaming. PAX is held annually in Seattle, Boston and Philadelphia in the United States; and Melbourne in Australia. PAX was ...
in
Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
,
Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...
, alongside collaborators I Am Wildcat, Lui Calibre, and
Mini Ladd Craig Joseph Thompson (born 7 January 1995), known by the online community as Mini Ladd, is an Emirati-born British entertainer, comedian, vlogger, gamer and YouTuber. As of August 2019, he has accumulated over 10 million followers across all ...
.


Format

The majority of VanossGaming videos take the format of a montage or compilation, featuring various clips from a particular game session, usually featuring other video game commentators.
The Canadian Press The Canadian Press (CP; french: La Presse canadienne, ) is a Canadian national news agency headquartered in Toronto, Ontario. Established in 1917 as a vehicle for the time's Canadian newspapers to exchange news and information, The Canadian Pre ...
described "a typical Vanoss video" as one that features "Vanoss and a group of friends chatting, laughing and making jokes over gameplay from popular titles such as ''
Grand Theft Auto V ''Grand Theft Auto V'' is a 2013 action-adventure game developed by Rockstar North and published by Rockstar Games. It is the seventh main entry in the Grand Theft Auto, ''Grand Theft Auto'' series, following 2008's ''Grand Theft Auto IV'', and ...
'' or '' Call of Duty: World at War''."


Awards


Other projects


''Dead Realm''

On 25 July 2015, Fong announced that he had been working on a game called ''
Dead Realm ''Dead Realm'' was a horror-style game for the PC. The main gameplay consists of one player taking control of a ghost while the remaining players are humans who must avoid being haunted by the ghost. On August 27, 2020, 3BLACKDOT ended support ...
'' for "the last six or seven months" as a
creative director A creative director (or creative supervisor) is a person who makes high-level creative decisions and, with those decisions, oversees the creation of creative assets such as advertisements, products, events, or logos. Creative director positions ar ...
, alongside collaborators David Nagle (
Daithi De Nogla David Nagle (born 6 July 1992), better known as Daithi De Nogla (or simply Nogla), is an Irish YouTuber known for making Let's Play videos. He has been described as one of Ireland's top YouTubers. Early life and education Nogla was born in ...
), Brian Hanby (The Terroriser), Craig "
Mini Ladd Craig Joseph Thompson (born 7 January 1995), known by the online community as Mini Ladd, is an Emirati-born British entertainer, comedian, vlogger, gamer and YouTuber. As of August 2019, he has accumulated over 10 million followers across all ...
" Thompson, and Tom "Syndicate". It was released via
Steam Steam is a substance containing water in the gas phase, and sometimes also an aerosol of liquid water droplets, or air. This may occur due to evaporation or due to boiling, where heat is applied until water reaches the enthalpy of vaporization ...
as an early release on 30 July 2015; it was later fully released on May 23, 2017. However, on August 27, 2020; after 3 years since its official release, 3BLACKDOT; the publisher of that game, ended its support amidst negative reviews the game received around the time after its official release, shutting down all of its servers, effectively discontinuing the game.


''Paranormal Action Squad''

On 2 November 2016, Fong,
Adam Montoya Adam Montoya (born June 12, 1984), better known as SeaNanners, is an American YouTuber. Career Early life and work After graduating from San Diego State University, Montoya did freelance work such as filming weddings. During this time, Adam, ...
, and Scott Robinson announced that a
computer-animated Computer animation is the process used for digitally generating animations. The more general term computer-generated imagery (CGI) encompasses both static scenes ( still images) and dynamic images (moving images), while computer animation refe ...
series of videos entitled ''
Paranormal Action Squad ''Paranormal Action Squad'' is an adult comedy animated streaming television series from YouTube Premium starring the YouTubers SeaNanners, Mr. Sark, and VanossGaming, while YouTubers TheSyndicateProject and H2O Delirious appear in guest starri ...
'' starring the three and written by
Michael Rowe Michael Rowe (born 1960) is an American television writer, producer and comedian. He has written for ''Becker (TV series), Becker'', ''The Nanny'', ''Futurama'', ''Paranormal Action Squad'' and ''Family Guy'', as well as writing the episode of ...
would air on
YouTube Red YouTube Premium (formerly Music Key and YouTube Red) is a subscription service offered by the video platform YouTube. The service provides ad-free access to content across the service, as well as access to premium YouTube Originals programming ...
, beginning on November 24.


''Alpha Betas''

On June 25, 2020, Fong announced that another computer animated series titled ''Alpha Betas'' is in production starring Fong, Brian "Terroriser" Hanby, Marcel "BasicallyIDoWrk" Cunningham and Tyler "WILDCAT" Wine, who are also credited as executive producers. It is created by Chris Bruno and David Howard Lee with production led by 3BlackDot and Starburns Industries. The pilot episode premiered on Fong's channel on March 13, 2021 and gained over 5 million views as June 2021. While they got offers from many networks, none of them were willing to give the showrunners the creative freedom, which led them to launch a
Kickstarter Kickstarter is an American public benefit corporation based in Brooklyn, New York, that maintains a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity. The company's stated mission is to "help bring creative projects to life". As of July 2021, ...
on July 20, 2021. On October 18, 2022, it was announced new episodes of Alpha Betas would premiere on October 31, 2022 on the Alpha Betas YouTube channel.


Music career

On 25 August 2017, Fong released a remix of "U-Rite" by hip-hop group
They In Modern English, ''they'' is a third-person pronoun relating to a grammatical subject. Morphology In Standard Modern English, ''they'' has five distinct word forms: * ''they'': the nominative (subjective) form * ''them'': the accusat ...
under the name Rynx. Fong released his debut single "Want You" featuring Miranda Glory on 12 December 2017 under his record label, Avant Garden. On 18 April 2018, Fong released the official music video for "Want You". On June 27, he released the music video for his second single "I'm Alright" featuring Jimi Ono. On August 15, he released a remix of the
Alison Wonderland Alexandra Margo Sholler (born 27 September 1986), known professionally as Alison Wonderland, is an Australian electronic dance music producer, DJ, and singer. Her debut album, ''Run'', was released on 20 March 2015, which peaked at No. 6 ...
song, “Cry.” On 16 November 2018, he released a remix of the Gallant song “Doesn’t Matter.” On 19 December 2018, he and Jaykode released a remix of the
Sasha Sloan Alexandra Artourovna Yatchenko (russian: Александра Артуровна Ятченко; born March 11, 1995), known professionally as Sasha Alex Sloan (previously Sasha Sloan), is an American singer-songwriter. Her debut album, ''Only ...
song “Normal.” On 16 January 2019, he released his third single “Hold On” featuring Drew Love. On 8 March 2019, he released a remix of the
Olivia O'Brien Olivia Gail O'Brien (born November 26, 1999) is an American singer-songwriter. In 2016, after she collaborated with Gnash on the single "I Hate U, I Love U", the pair peaked at number 10 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart in the United States ...
song, “Love Myself”, and on 3 May 2019, he released a remix of “Contra La Pared” by Jamaican singer
Sean Paul Sean Paul Ryan Francis Henriques OD (born 9 January 1973) is a Jamaican rapper and singer who is regarded as one of dancehall's most prolific artists. Paul's singles "Get Busy" and "Temperature" topped the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart in the ...
and Colombian singer
J Balvin José Álvaro Osorio Balvín (born 7 May 1985), known professionally as J Balvin, is a Colombian singer and songwriter. He has been referred to as the " Prince of Reggaeton" (from Spanish: "Príncipe del Reggaetón"), and is one of the best-sell ...
. His fourth single “Read my Mind” featuring
Mainland Mainland is defined as "relating to or forming the main part of a country or continent, not including the islands around it egardless of status under territorial jurisdiction by an entity" The term is often politically, economically and/or dem ...
was released on 22 May 2019. His fifth single, “Club Poor”, with
Tiny Meat Gang Cody Michael Kolodziejzyk ( , Polish: ; born November 22, 1990), better known online as Cody Ko, is a Canadian YouTuber, comedian, podcaster and rapper. Kolodziejzyk first became popular on Vine in 2014, before becoming a commentary YouTuber on ...
, was released on 10 July 2019. His sixth single "All For You" featuring
Kiesza Kiesa Rae Ellestad (born January 16, 1989), known professionally as Kiesza ( ), is a Canadian singer and multi-instrumentalist from Calgary. In 2017, she was involved in a car accident in Toronto, suffering severe injuries that required her to ...
was released on 31 July 2019. On 17 September 2019, he announced on his Instagram account that he is going to be releasing his debut project, ''In Pieces'', in October. On the same day, he announced that he would be going on tour in October and November 2019 in the United States and Canada, and possibly releasing merchandise in the tour. On October 15, Rynx stated on Twitter that "He was ruining his health" and that he wanted his set to be the best for his tour for his fans. He also stated he wanted "to feel something while on the stage that'll make it all worth it." On November 5, he announced on YouTube that his tour was delayed (except the San Francisco trip) until February. ''In Pieces'' was released in 25 October 2019.


Discography


Studio albums


Remix albums


Singles


Remixes


References


External links

* * *{{IMDb name, id=8586283, name=Evan Fong 1992 births Canadian people of Chinese descent Canadian people of Korean descent Canadian YouTubers Living people Video game commentators YouTube channels launched in 2011 Gaming YouTubers YouTube channels 21st-century Canadian male musicians Musicians from Toronto